Improvement in railroad-car heaters



UNITED y STETEsr PATENT @Enron JOSHUA G. ALLEN, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPRCVEMENT IN RAILRQAD-CAR HEATERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 116,914, dated July 11,1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosHUA G. ALLEN, of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Heating and Ventilating Bailway Cars, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing.

My invention relates to heating and ventilatin g cars; and consists inthe use and employment of the air-spacesv in the walls and floors forair-lines, or in the insertion of ilues therein for the purposes ofventilation also, in the novel construction and arrangement of theheatingl apparatus and the parts connected therewith, as hereinaftermore fully explained.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of a car,showing` a method of ventilating the same. Fig. 2 is an end View of acar,

and also a transverse vertical section ofthe heater under the platform.Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the heater under the platform on theline :v a', and Fig. 4 is a side View of the car, with a portion of itbroken away, showing a transverse vertical section of a heater placedwithin the car.

A represents the body of a car constructed with spaces A between itsinner and outer walls, and with spaces also under its iioors. rlhespaces between the side walls extend up between the windows. In thesespaces are arranged iiues C, which communicate with openings B in theoor of the car, and then extend under the floor to the side of the car,and then up through the spaces in its side walls and on up through itsroof, and have'their upper ends on the outside of the car provided witha cowl or other suitable device, as shown in Fig. l. These fiues G,instead of extending under the floor, I also arrange on the upper sideof the same, under the seats, with an opening F into the aisle, as shownin the same figure; or when desired to have them out of the way, so asnot to interfere with sweeping and cleaning the oar, I extend them up onthe inner or outer side of the outer supports of the seats and thenalong under the under side of the seats to the spaces A', as shown indotted lines in the same gure. In this way it will be seen that the airwill be drawn from the car through these ues, and in the direction shownby the arrow in the same Fig. l, and that the spaces between theframe-work or walls of the car will be utilized for the purpose.

In connection with this arrangement of lues for ventilating the cars, Iconstruct and use a heating apparatus, placed either outside and underthe platform or inside of the car. When placed under the platform Iconstruct this heater G, as clearly shown in section in Figs. 2 and 3,with triple walls so as to surround its furnace P with, iirst, a hot-airspace, Z', and a cold-air space, Y- that is, so that the cold-air maypass into the pipe T from the outside, and then through the space Y onthrough the space Z, and then up into the interior ofthe car throughiiues suitable for the purpose. By having the furnace thus surrounded bya triple wall, and causing the air to take this circuitous passage, itwill be seen that the heatis well utilized. Besides this, I flnthereconomize the heat by carrying the smoke-flue N up onto the tioor ofthecar, and thence along one side of the same to its opposite end, and upthis end and through the roof, as shown by the dotted lines in Figs. 2and 4. That portion of the smoke-nue which is within the car is made ofcast-iron, and of one or more lengths; when made of pieces jointedtogether they should be closely connected. rlhe ends of that portion ofthe smoke-fines that eX- tends along the iioor are provided withopenings, O, which are closed by stops or covers, S, as shown in Fig. 4.These openings afford access to the flues for the purpose of cleaningthem when desired. The heater G under the platform has a dish-shapedopening, H, with a passage, h, leading to its nre-box, through which thefuel-:is fed. This shape of the opening being for the purpose ofdirecting the fuel into the passage h, as shown, a rod or lever, I, isconnected to the grate, for the purpose of shaking it by a person on theplatform. 'lhe upper end of this rod I is held by a guard, 7c, or slotin the platform of suificient length to allow sufficient vmovement ofthe rod to shake the grate. Another rod or lever, L, with its upper endextending above the platform, is used to operate a slide, Q, forregulating the draught of air to the re or closing the same. To thissame lever may also be attached another lever, M, for operating a damperin the smoke-flue, as shown in Fig. 2. rlhe coal-box, B, with door r,may be placed under the end seat on the opposite side from the heater,or a special fuel-box may be provided. The end of the pipe through whichthe cold air enters is provided with a hood, e, pivoted to swing so asto catch the air-currents, and direct them as shown by the arrows.

Instead of having the heater under the platform it maybe pl aced withinthe car, and arranged as shown in Fig. 4. The heater thus placed ismarked G', and is provided with allot-air space, c, about its furnace.This space is supplied with fresh air by a pipe, d, extending under thecar, the end of which is provided with a swinging hood for catching anddirecting the air-currents, as shown bythe arrows f in Fig. 4. Thehot-air space about the heater may be divided into anv upper and lowerspace by a partition, n, and the lower space provided with a pipe orflue, m, for conducting the heated air to any part ofthe car at anydesired distance from the Hoor. The heater under the platform may alsohave its hot-air space divided by a partition, c, for the purpose ofconducting the hot air in'dii'i'erent directions.

rlhe advantages of heatin g and Ventilating cars in the manner and bythe means herein described are many. By utilizing the spaces between thewalls ofthe car there is not only a saving of room, but the frame-workof the car is measurably protected from decay and rot. It is well knownthat during damp or wetl weather more or less 1noist-` ure finds it wayinto the open spaces in the frame. l/Vhen being conlined it can only dryaway very gradually; but by using these spaces for venti lating-tluesthey are kept warm and dry, and the frame of the car is thus protectedfrom the inj urious eiiects of prolonged dampness. By the constructionand arrangement of the heating apparatus it will be seen that the car iskept constantly lled with fresh hot air to supply the place ofthe lo werstratum ofthe same that is being' constantly drawn away by theVentilating-fines 5 and that this hot air can be introduced at anydesired place so as to make the heat uniform throughout the car, at thesaine time, the arrangement of the cast-iron smoke-flue near the iioortends to keep the feet of the passengers warm. As the air is drawn fromthe car near its iloor, through the mouths of the Ventilating-fines, itwill be seen that by the combination of the methods for heating andVentilating above described there must be a constant and thoroughcirculation and distribution of warm air throughout the car.

I claiml. The method herein described of ventilatin g a railway car bymeans of the vacant space or spaces A between its walls, whereby saidspace is utilized as iiues and the space between the walls is alsothoroughly ventilated and dried.

2. In combination with the foregoing, the tubes C, having their openends arranged to receive the outgoing air at or near the central aisleof the car and conduct it into the space or spaces A', substantially asdescribed.

3. A car-heater, substantially such as is herein described, having' apartition, V, dividing its hotair chamber into two parts separate fromeach other, from both of which the hot air is conveyed into the carsimultaneously, whereby the car is heated at both ends, irrespective ofthe direction in which it is moving or in which the wind may chance tobe blowing.

et. The arrangement in a car of the ventilating and heating devices insuch a manner that the incoming hot and fresh a-ir shall enter at thebottom and the outgoing foul air shall also be taken from the bottom ornear the bottom, substantially as described.

Witnesses:

GEO. IATGHEL, W. H. WnA'rHnRLY.

J. e. ALLEN.

